On the Curb Outside
by Ssatsuki
Summary: JimBo Bo sits outside, on the night before he moves for college, and regrets a failed confession. Jimmy joins him.


So, this is the other entry I wrote for my rollplay site's Cliche contest. The contest was never judged, so I don't know if I won or not with this. But I got tired of waiting, not to mention the site closed down, so I'm posting this here now.

I apologize in advanced for any typos and for how astonishingly cliche this is. XP

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**Title**: On the Curb Outside

**Fandom**: Cursed

**Pairing**: Bo x Jimmy

**Cliché(s)**: _Caught in the Rain_ and _Friends_

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Bo sat on the curb of the road just outside of his house. Tears were pouring down his cheeks but no one could tell through the rain pouring down. The moving truck in the driveway to his left was a stark reminder of why everything would be ok. It was ok. He could cry and let it out and then he'd move on. It didn't matter that Jimmy….

He let out a short sob of a sound and pulled his black jacket closer around him.

High school was over. Tomorrow, Bo was moving to Riverside to attend the University there. It had been the perfect time. Nothing was supposed to be able to go wrong. So why…

After the werewolf incident, Bo and Jimmy had become good friends. Jimmy knew Bo's secret, Bo understood what Jimmy had been through on those nights after he'd been bitten almost a year ago. Brooke had dated Jimmy for the entire rest of the school year, but Jimmy had broken it off shortly after graduation. It was mutual and neither hated each other, but everyone was shocked at the break up. Bo had hung out with Jimmy all summer as they planned their lives out for the next four years. Jimmy was staying in L.A. and attending college there. Bo got a scholarship and was moving away.

Bo had been hiding something from Jimmy though. He'd been crushing on Jimmy for two years before Jimmy was cursed by the mark of the beast and became a werewolf, before everyone else was affected by his change and thought he was attractive. That's why he picked on him, for god sake! The little boys in the sandbox that pick on girls they like:_ that was Bo_, but with Jimmy! After Jimmy started dating Brooke, Bo had tried _so hard_ to give up on him. Jimmy was straight and that was the end of things.

But he couldn't.

He tried and he failed. He liked Jimmy, might even love Jimmy now that he'd actually gotten to know the guy as a person and not just some body he'd love to top. He fantasized about Jimmy, dreamt about him most nights, wished and hoped they would end up together in the end. More than once he'd actually gotten down on his knees and prayed to God that Jimmy would feel the same, while simultaneously apologizing for asking for a great sin. Nothing changed. Jimmy and Bo were friends; best friends; the only true friends the other had. They knew secrets about each other that no one else knew.

Bo had wanted to tell Jimmy about his feelings after Jimmy and Brooke broke up, but he was afraid. Jimmy was his best friend. He didn't want to lose that by telling Jimmy he liked him that way. He was terrified of being alone, of having no one who knew him for him, of losing Jimmy. He was selfish that way. But he was moving tomorrow so he'd thought 'It's now or never.'

Jimmy had been busy all day at work, and Bo waited outside his house for hours just so he could catch him when he got home. He'd been so nervous that when Jimmy finally got home and said 'hello,' Bo had practically jumped out of his skin. Jimmy had invited him inside, but Bo had declined, saying he only had a minute and he just wanted to say something real quick.

He should've just stayed home. Or kept his mouth shut. Or at least kept his mouth to himself.

At least he'd been able to kiss Jimmy this time. His lips had touched Jimmy's for the briefest of moments and it sent flares of joy through Bo's very soul. Then Jimmy had shoved him away, angry.

"_What are you doing?_" he'd demanded.

"I'm in love with you!" Bo had practically shouted. Several moments passed with only them breathing and then Jimmy spoke: his tone was low and dangerous, the likes of which Bo hadn't heard even when Jimmy was a werewolf.

"This is a joke."

"No. Jimmy, I-"

"Get lost," Jimmy had ordered brokenly and yet bitterly. "I don't appreciate it, Bo. Go away."

Bo had listened. He tried walking away, keeping his pride at least a bit intact, but he couldn't keep it up and within four steps he was running flat out from Jimmy's house to his own. It had started to rain on the way and by the time he reached his house it was pouring, blocking out the moonlight and the stars and all hope. Bo hadn't gone inside. The rain was like a message: empathy. The world was crying with him and Bo wanted to wallow in it right now. Which was why he was sitting outside his house on the curb of the street crying in the rain at some time past ten at night.

He'd ruined everything!

"Oh god," he sobbed out, laying his elbows on his knees, bending over to hide his face, covering his eyes with his hands. "I thought…"

Jimmy hadn't reacted that badly the first time Bo tried to kiss him, when Bo had first told him he was gay. He'd thought Jimmy would reject him kindly, gently, like he did everything else. He could've handled that. This harsh refusal hurt…._it hurt so much_! Bo moved his hands from his eyes to run them through his sopping wet hair and held on there. He wished…..that he had never gone to Jimmy's house that night after the wrestling tryouts, never confessed who and what he was. Maybe then he wouldn't have fallen so hard. Maybe then this wouldn't hurt so much.

He barely heard the splash of the footstep over the drone of the rain. Then he saw, from the corner of his eyes, as someone sat down on the curb next to him. He didn't have to ask. He recognized Jimmy's dark brown hoodie anywhere, even when it was covering most of Jimmy's head. Bo took a deep breath and sat up straighter, and tried desperately to stop his tears. It didn't matter much anyhow with the rain.

"Bo," Jimmy began, and it sounded like a murmur through the rain. He spoke louder the next time. "I'm sorry, Bo."

Bo shook his head, running his hands along his upper legs and making sure to look anywhere but at Jimmy. "It's fine," he assured him. "It's not like I really expected you to-"

"_Do you really love me?_" Jimmy interrupted loudly.

Bo looked at him then. He had his elbows on his knees much like Bo had earlier, with his hands clasped in the middle. He wasn't bent over much but his head was down and Jimmy was staring intently at his own hands. With a nod, Bo said, "Yes."

Jimmy clenched his hands together. "I'm really sorry," he repeated. "When you showed up at my house and kissed me and said that….I thought you were playing some sort of sick joke on me because you're leaving tomorrow and wouldn't have to deal with it later."

Bo shook his head, still watching Jimmy curiously. "I wouldn't do that, Jimbo. You're my best friend."

"Your best friends are your worst bullies," Jimmy actually did murmur, but the rain was beginning to let up so Bo managed to catch it. Jimmy sighed; a deep breath in and a heavy breath out. "Then again…" He stopped. "Why did you tell me now?"

Looking at his left knee, away from Jimmy, Bo shrugged. "I'm moving tomorrow. To Riverside. I figured…if you rejected me now…at least I was leaving and it wouldn't….wouldn't matter," he struggled out, finding warmth running down his cheeks again and his voice cracking. He wiped his eyes harshly. "I uh…ahem," he cleared his throat, "I liked you before you were cursed…just so you know."

Jimmy looked at him, confusion lacing his features in a raised eyebrow and a crooked mouth. Bo cleared his throat again.

"It's just….You think no one likes you. You said so once. You hate your own body. You wanted to be a werewolf again because it made you feel attractive, brave, and strong…..But I've liked you since sophomore year, and you managed to make it through high school as both the biggest loser and the most popular guy in school…..So….You're better….than you think." He couldn't look at Jimmy's face anymore. His cheeks were burning but thankfully it was so dark out he could barely see Jimmy, let alone the color of Jimmy's cheeks, so Jimmy probably couldn't see his.

Several moments passed with only the rain for noise. Bo couldn't keep himself from remembering how harshly Jimmy had sent him away and tears kept leaping to his eyes unbidden. Then there was a weight on his shoulder. Bo turned his head to the right, his eyes widening when he saw Jimmy leaning his arm against Bo's arm and his head on Bo's right shoulder. The hood was gone from his head as well, revealing curly hair that had been darkened and straightened by the rain.

"I got angry because…I-I-I thought you were making fun of me," Jimmy said nervously. "I thought you had found me out and just wanted one last laugh before you left…It was stupid of me. Worse than stupid."

"Jimbo?" Bo asked, not sure if he was hearing this right.

Jimmy took a deep breath. "It takes one to know one, right?" he asked rhetorically. Bo felt hope flare in his chest. "It just took me longer than most to notice it in myself: The truth."

"The truth?" Bo asked, barely noticing that the rain was down to a heavy drizzle.

"That I….I think I love you…too….," Jimmy admitted, shifting uncomfortably against Bo's side.

Bo just stared at the top of Jimmy's head for several seconds in stunned silence and then….then he started to laugh. It rumbled through his body unhindered and Bo had no desire to stop it. Jimmy sat up straight and half glared at Bo.

"What?" he asked heatedly.

Bo shook his head and covered his mouth with one hand. "Nothing…I just….You really like me back?" Jimmy nodded determinedly. "Since when?"

Jimmy squirmed where he sat. "Shortly after….the wrestling championships."

Thinking back, Bo counted in his head. "Five months?" he asked incredulously. Before Jimmy could say anything, Bo let his head drop down like he'd been before Jimmy showed up. "Why didn't you tell me?" He sounded a bit broken even to his own ears. "We could've had five months."

"What do you mean?"

Bo lifted his head and stared Jimmy in the eyes. "I'm moving to Riverside tomorrow, Jimmy."

Jimmy's eyes narrowed a bit and he looked away at the other side of the street, watching the water running down the slight incline of the road in rivers. "People have had longer distance relationships that work out," he said at length.

"You serious?" Bo asked, barely allowing himself to hope.

Jimmy nodded. "Riverside is only a little over two hours away in bad traffic," he explained. He looked back at Bo. "We could do it, if you're willing to try," he ended with a hopeful tone.

Bo lifted his left hand, reached over, and placed it on Jimmy's cheek. He rubbed his thumb over Jimmy's jaw like he was prepared to memorize every feature, and then he slowly moved closer, watching Jimmy's reaction. Jimmy didn't stop him, so Bo moved in the last inch or so and captured the younger man's lips with his own in a semi-chaste, heartfelt kiss and Jimmy kissed him back. Pulling away, Bo looked from Jimmy's lips to his eyes and licked his own lips. A smile spread across his entire face.

"I was willing when you were a beast," he half-joked. "I'm definitely willing now that we're the same species."

Jimmy's eyes widened and he lightly punched Bo in the arm, making them both laugh as the rain gently came to a stop, leaving them both soaked through but happy. "Jerk."

Bo kept the smile on his face as he leaned in for a second kiss, and a third, and a fourth: all simple but with a lot of emotion behind them. Life was getting better, Bo thought. So Bo sat on the curb of the road just outside of his house. The younger man with curly brown hair to his right was a beautiful reminder of why everything would be ok.

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Fin.

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Thank you so much for reading! Please review and let me know what you think!


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